From Speaker of the House to 'flipper' of the house

Jay RootAssociated Press

Published 6:00 pm, Thursday, February 5, 2009

AUSTIN - Even as fellow House members were wresting him from his leadership post, House Speaker Tom Craddick directed state officials to renovate his cherished capitol apartment, spending all but $18.55 from a restoration fund that once totaled over $1.3 million.

The final purchase order - $45,400 for two historic Texas oil paintings - was issued just hours before Craddick had to hand power over to Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, after House members voted him out of the No. 1 post because they didn't like his autocratic leadership style. Straus got Craddick's job as well as the keys to the 1,804-square-foot apartment behind the House chamber.

Private funds, donated from wealthy contributors and lobbyists, were used to pay for the renovation. State employees also were dispatched to perform minor installation work on the project late last year, officials said.

Craddick, a Midland oilman, announced he was withdrawing from the speaker's race on Jan. 4, after it was clear he no longer had a majority of the House behind him. A day later, on Jan. 5, the Texas State Preservation Board approved the expenditure of $124,000 on the apartment, including the purchase of a $75,000 crystal chandelier that already had been hung over the speaker's spacious dining room.

All told, the State Preservation Board - in charge of modifications to the state capitol - approved $169,400 in expenditures on the apartment renovation during Craddick's final week in office. The last expenditure, for the oil paintings, was approved just before 5 p.m. on Jan. 12, only hours before the Republican speaker formally relinquished power, records show.

Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of the liberal watchdog group Public Citizen, said the last-minute expenditures were inappropriate, particularly as state officials are calling on agencies to reduce their budgets and eliminate any non-essential spending.

"What the Craddicks are doing is emptying the coffers that they had raised to retrofit the apartment and sort of creating a memorial to the excesses of their administration," Smith said. "What kind of signal does this send that the Craddicks are so unaware of the impacts of the recession in Texas that they would go out and spent $46,000 on paintings?"

Craddick declined comment, referring any questions to the Preservation Board.

Straus spokeswoman Angela Hale would say only that the items were purchased before the new speaker took office.

Besides the chandelier and paintings, the expenditures approved on Jan. 5 included a walnut breakfront valued at $26,500 and another chandelier, valued at $22,500. Those items were installed in the apartment, though not yet paid for, before Christmas, officials said.

The paintings were acquired and paid for during Craddick's last week in office, officials said. The historic oil on canvas art - "The Alamo," by Henry Freeland, for $35,000 and "Cactus Field in Bloom," by Eloise Polk McGill - were bought from from Rainone Gallery in Arlington, Texas, records show.

Preservation Board Director John Sneed said Craddick had inquired about the balance of the account some time during the week of Jan. 5, after announcing he would not run again for speaker, one of the most powerful jobs in state government. Craddick then said he had identified the oil paintings he wanted.

"He was still speaker of the House. He still had influence over the funds that had been collected for the purpose of the apartment," said Sneed. "They were totally appropriate pieces to bring into the apartment."

The renovation to the speaker's capitol apartment began in 2006 and included the installation of wood floors, the removal of a loft and staircase, a new kitchen, upgrades to the laundry room and bathroom, and the addition of numerous antique furnishings and art. Lobbyists, businessmen and other organizations donated a little over $1.3 million for the overhaul. AT&T and energy tycoon T. Boone Pickens each gave $250,000 for the project, and the Briscoe Ranch, owned by the family of former Gov. Dolph Briscoe, gave $100,000.

Nadine Craddick, wife of the former speaker and a key player in the renovation, has said the living space is the only capitol apartment occupied by a House speaker anywhere in the nation.

The State Preservation Board's role was to ensure that the items purchased were historically accurate and appropriate for the capitol. Sneed said the renovation fit those requirements. Other than that, he said the $1.3 million was "largely spent at the direction of the speaker."

After buying the paintings Craddick wanted, the agency was left with exactly $18.55, Sneed said. Asked what the new speaker might be able to buy with that, Sneed chuckled.